Osborne Brothers Win NZ Goldstar Opener

Hamilton’s Osborne brothers Fynn and Clay claimed a rare family double at the opening round of the 60th anniversary Manawatu & TRC Toyota-backed 60th Wellington Provincial Karting Association’s (WPKA) Goldstar Series in Taranaki over the weekend.

While brothers racing at the same meeting is not uncommon, brothers both winning their class is. Particularly at such a high-profile meeting against many of the best drivers in the country.

That’s just what the pair did at the KartSport Taranaki club’s Todd Energy Raceway at Waitara on Sunday though.

Fynn, the older of the two, and reigning New Zealand Sprint champion in the class, won three of the five 125cc Rotax Max Light class heats to win the round by a single point from top Palmerston North driver Fraser Hart.

In a virtual carbon copy of what happened in the Rotax Max Light senior class, younger brother, Clay – who won his class at this year’s Rotax Max Challenge series Grand Finals meeting in Italy last month – also won three of his five heats to take class victory in the 125cc Rotax Max Junior class, this time by a margin of two points over fellow international Liam Sceats from Auckland.

Underlining his current form, Clay also won the event’s stand-alone 125cc Rotax Max Junior Grand Prix race by an equally impressive margin of 7.241 second from Sceats and Jack Neill, setting a new class lap record – of 27.252 – on his way to the chequered flag.

Older brother Fynn had to settle for third place in the 125cc Rotax Max Light class behind Rotorua ace Bradley Hewson in the Senior GP, though he did have the consolation of setting a new class lap record of his own with a lap of 27.500.

The meeting attracted a bumper entry of close to 120 with karters making the trip to Taranaki from north of Auckland to Christchurch in the south. A feature of the event was the first serious competition in New Zealand of the new international standard Mini 950 chassis in the Cadet ROK and Vortex Mini ROK classes, with the winners in both classes running the new chassis.

Other dual class and class GP winners were;

• Vortex ROK DVS Senior – Arie Hutton (Palmerston North)
• ClubSport 120 – Stephen Muggeridge (Whakatane)
• Vortex ROK DVS Junior – Ben Stewart (Wellington)
• Cadet ROK – Marco Manson (Auckland)

Other class winners on the day, meanwhile, were Brendon Jury from New Plymouth (Open), Zach Zaloum from Hastings (125cc Rotax Max Heavy), Shaun Hibbs from Wellington (Briggs LO206 ClubSport) and Louis Sharp from Christchurch (Vortex Mini ROK).

The other Grand Prix race winners were Nelson Hartley from Palmerston North (Open GP), Ashley Higgins from Palmerston North (125cc Rotax Max Heavy), Ian Smith (Briggs LO206 ClubSport) and Jacob Bellamy (Vortex Mini ROK).

There is now a break over the summer months with the 60th anniversary Goldstar series resuming in Wellington in early March 2020. This Round will incorporate Round 1 of the 2020 ROK Cup NZL series.

RESULTS

Open

1. Brendon Jury; 2. Riley Jack; 3. Jacob Cranston; 4. Nelson Hartley; 5. John Wallace; 6. Daniel Hall.

Vortex ROK DVS Snr

1. Arie Hutton; 2.  Brad Still; 3. Chris van der Drift; 4. James Van den Berk; 5. Robbie Johnson; 6. Will Chronis.

125cc Rotax Max Light

1. Fynn Osborne; 2. Fraser Hart; 3. Bradley Hewson; 4. Jack Hickey; 5. Fletcher Russell; 6. Gemma Winters.

125cc Rotax Max Heavy

1. Zach Zaloum; 2. Marco Giltrap; 3. Adam Bell; 4. Ashley Higgins; 5. Brendon Hart; 6. Kyle Rankin.

ClubSport 120

1. Stephen Muggeridge; 2. Stuart Frew; 3. Scott Dalley; 4. Derek Lawrence; 5. Cliff Walsh; 6. Tim Allen.

Briggs LO206 ClubSport

1. Shaun Hibbs; 2. Ian Smith; 3. Brent Melhop; 4. David Sharp; 5. Ben Hibbs; 6. Sean Lockyear.           

125cc Rotax Max Junior

1. Clay Osborne; 2. Liam Sceats; 3. Ryan Bell; 4. Louise Rawson; 5. Jenson Bate; 6. Jack Neill.

Vortex ROK DVS Junior

1. Ben Stewart; 2. Tom Bewley; 3. Ben Isaac; 4. Ayrton Williams; 5. Mason Potter.

Vortex Mini ROK

1. Louis Sharp; 2. Judd Christianson; 3. Arthur Broughan; 4. Blake Dowdall; 5. Kiahn Burt; 6. Jacob Bellamy.

Cadet ROK

1. Marco Manson; 2. Zach Tucker; 3. Logan Dowdall; 4.  Carson Daly; 5. Jackson Culver; 6.  Jensen Calcott.

Open GP

1. Nelson Hartley; 2. Brendon Jury; 3. John Wallace.

Vortex ROK DVS Snr GP

1. Arie Hutton; 2. Brad Still; 3. Harry Townshend.

125cc Rotax Max Light GP

1. Bradley Hewson; 2. Ashley Higgins; 3. Fynn Osborne  

125cc Rotax Max Heavy GP

1. Zach Zaloum; 2. Marco Giltrap; 3. Matt Fox

ClubSport 120 GP

1. Stephen Muggeridge, 2. Stuart Frew, 3. Scott Dalley

Briggs LO206 ClubSport GP

1. Ian Smith; 2. Shaun Hibbs; 3. Shaun Croskery.

Vortex ROK DVS Junior GP

1. Ben Stewart; 2. Mason Potter; 3. Ayrton Williams.         

125cc Rotax Max Junior GP

1. Clay Osborne; 2. Liam Sceats; 3. Jack Neill.

Vortex Mini ROK GP

1. Jacob Bellamy; 2. Judd Christianson; 3. Blake Dowdall.

Cadet ROK GP

1. Marco Manson; 2. Carson Daly; 3. Jackson Culver.

CALENDAR – 2019/20 Manawatu & TRC Toyota WPKA Goldstar Series

• Rnd 1 Nov 23-24 2019 Todd Energy Raceway Waitara Taranaki
• Rnd 2 March 07-08 2020 Gazley Raceway Kaitoke Wellington
• Rnd 3 May 12-13 2020 Carter’s Tyres’ Raceway Roy’s Hill Hastings Hawke’s Bay
• Championships round May 30-31 2020 Manawatu Toyota Raceway Palmerston North Manawatu